psw Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) A lot of the links in this thread no longer exist...some of the tracks are available from my free download page at soundclick...4tune8 ...enjoy! A NEW sound clip of the 2008 Telecaster sustainer is available here...Blueteleful Telecaster Project Audio Hi there fellow sustainers...at last, here are some.... <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Sustainer Sounds</span> Ive actually posted these twice...here and over in the anouncements area on their own thread...you can access them here but it may be better that questions and comments about them be made over there and we'll continue with the technical stuff, over here.... Ok...so here they are in a typically long psw post.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At last….Some long awaited Sustainer Sounds… Now you can hear what the Sustainer Thread has been pursuing for so long and how close the project is to getting it all together…. This is my "Test Strat". It's a typical cheap japanese pawnshop (literally) number. It's got a maple fretboard and is very bright and typically strat-ish. The bridge pickup is a $A30 stacked HB single coil…very cheap, and low powered. This is what is used exclusively when the Sustainer is activated. The neck pickup is the guitar's original, a very low powered true single coil, modified into a passive pickup and Sustainer Driver… The controls are an on/off bypass switch and a harmonic/fundamental switch, plus a drive/sensitivity control pot. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>MP3's</span>...just click on the title to download...first two are short (less than 1M the others a little longer.... I was having trouble posting some links...here's a link to all the tracks for your convieniance...and in case the links dont work right... All Tracks --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clean Chords This shows how the guitar's natural sound has been preserved. Bass strings tend to predominate within a chord (this is typical of all sustainer systems). It's kind of neat though that you can have these long bass notes over the sound of the guitar, gives the impression of two instruments. The whole thing is using the fundamental sustain mode…fretted notes sustain at their actual pitch…until the last chord where I've switched to the harmonic mode…that emerging high b harmonic is actually the open low E string (sounds the 12th fret b string)…then I switch it back again for the trem drop… The last sound I intentionally put there and is the current fault still to be ironed out…when you turn the device off…you get a "pop"…that's the sound of the pop at the end there… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Satch Harmonix This was as requested by BDRockstar, the old Satriani "Always with You…" tune. Actually a good kind of melody to show off the sustainer as it produces some of the harmonic effects heard on the original. I played it from memory, so I'm not sure how I remembered it right, but you'll get the idea. This has a more saturated distortion tone which brings out the harmonics a little more, but the harmonic effects are the same even when played clean. The whole thing is played in harmonic mode…it takes a little while for the harmonic to emerge so it's really only with longer notes that this comes through. It's also very sensitive to the way you play. This guitar, due to all the mods installing the thing needs to be re-setup…it has a pretty high action (even for me) and 10-46 strings…so apologies for the handling noise. This action also effects the way the Sustainer responds, that last phrase of harmonics come out almost instantly from the 20th fret (b string, sliding down)…this is due to the high action being pushed down much closer to the driver on the higher frets. A consistently low action guitar should produce this kind of response all over the fretboard…that's where the sensitivity knob comes in…to vary the speed of response from subtle to virtually instant harmonics. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thrash Trash Apologies to all those metal freaks…I thought I'd better crank up the distortion a little and tool about with this sound. Those high notes at the start are not picked but brought out with the tremolo. There's a bit of a run down to an e note (a string, 7th fret) which is held and the harmonic emerges through a couple of octaves. The pinging at the end is my high e, having gotten caught on the pickup bobbin…they say if you screw up, repeat it like you meant it…actually I was just trying to release it!!! Sorry about the timing too…just tooling around you understand, I know tight timing is the essence of this style…forgive me! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Who Trembles Ok…a strange one here to demonstrate the weirder side of this thing and how it can transform some pretty basic effects into something different. Here I've indulged my secret Surf Style appreciation with a reverb-laden tremolo-ed out, clean sound…(hey, Hendrix liked surf…). Anyway, got a bit of the spaghetti western thing going…but the trem brought out a little of the Baba O'Riely Synth effect from it…That constant drone is just the low e sustaining away, with the filter like effects made with the harmonic switch. Towards the end I play a b note on the high e (19th fret) but I lost the harmonic just as it was going into dog whistle territory (possibly a good thing)…any way, as I say these longer ones are just me fooling about and improvising…It's all just one guitar…no edits of overdubs on any of this stuff… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beckistan Here's a little tribute to my favorite guitarist, Jeff Beck. Watch out if you're listening with headphones 'cause there's some very high notes, and I don't want any one hurt. I did better versions, but this is the improv that got recorded. This is a kind of ethereal sound with a fair bit of delay and a British kind of crunch to the sound. All the harmonics are produced by the sustainer and should show that, made right this thing has no trouble sustaining those high strings…even in harmonic territory. This track illustrates quite a few things. First the neck pickup. The first phrase is the neck pickup (no sustainer)…this was recorded within 2 feet of a 17in CRT monitor BTW…pretty quiet for a single coil!!! The second phrase is the bridge pickup…you can use this to compare the difference to it's sound with the sustainer on, and how it effects the guitar's normal tone. On the last note of the phrase, as it dies away, I turn the sustainer on…notice no "pop" tuning the thing on…and the note builds up again. This first part is the fundamental mode…you can hear me switch to harmonic mode when those high notes, go really high. Then I go and play a couple of power chords to demonstrate how the harmonics come out down there. Then, I play a typically beck-like melody with harmonics provided by the sustainer…all this these high notes are on the g string below the 12th fret…you can see how the harmonic mode can be used to extend the guitar's range without having to reach for the cramped end of the fretboard. By the way, that faint thumping sound in the background is my loose trem arm, there's a bit of spring noise too… There is also an effect in the delay's that you really don’t hear too often. As these pure high tones are bent (by the trem) they interact in a kind of psychoacoustic effect creating some really bizarre, but musical, interactions in with the echoes as they cascade over each other. Very Beck-esque! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jam'N Here's the sustainer in an unlikely reggae and blues context…Shows how the sustainer can be used to add a bit of spice and squawk to typical blues riffs. Rough as Guts, and the battery was running low, but hey, it might be of interest. There's a bit there where I hold a low g note with my index finger (gm bar chord) while skanking some rhythm under this sustained bass. With practice, and a new battery, you could probably imitate an organ's pedal tones under your rhythm, bit of chorus for a Leslie-like effect, and you're cooking, maan! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok…so, some sounds to enjoy. A big thanks goes to Tim/onelastgoodbye for hosting them, cheers mate (love the toaster ). The idea isn't to show off my playing (obviously), but to demonstrate just some of the things it can do and give you a bit of an insight as to what it might sound like in your hands. It's also to show where the sustainer project is at and how close we are to a realistic and very good DIY Sustainer we really are. If you're interested about the device…don't be put off by the size of the Sustainer Thread (61 pages now)…just tag along and ask what you like… I'd welcome any feedback by the way…so to speak…so feel free… psw / pete <{POST_SNAPBACK}> BTW: Moderators...I realize I have posted two pics here, but they're not that big and I don't anticipate they'll be any more posted here (unless it's that dead horse pic)...however, if you want, feel free to delete the second pic...readers can read up on it in the 61 page sustainer thread...it's OK!...p Also for visitors and anyone who hasn't noticed...you can click on that little pink arrow to take you to where the quote came from...in this case page 61 of the Sustainer Thread in the electronics section of the Forum.... Edited September 1, 2008 by psw Quote Link to comment
Pr3Va1L Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 really nice stuff, makes me want to make my own Quote Link to comment
sepultura999 Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Okay, now I REALLY want one Psw. I'm glad to see all this hard work pay off, and not just you, with everyone that was involved in helping you. Now you just have to figure out how to wire it with a humbucker, unless there is no difference of course Quote Link to comment
Pr3Va1L Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Do like sustainiac... but with an actual humbucker? just put 2 single coils next to each other (with differenc polarities) and one of em' being the sustainer... Quote Link to comment
psw Posted July 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Thanks Guys...sorry it took a while sep'999... I hope it does fire the imagination being able to hear it... Do like sustainiac... Well, yes...that's an option...what I've done here is actually meld the pickup and driver into one unit. In the picture the driver is that little blue portion at the top...the rest is all pickup and it's magnet. It adds about 4mm to the pickup. The placement of the driver ideally should be exactly where most people would want their neck pickup... With a humbucker I'm kind of predicting some improvement. My next one will be a stacked humbucker to replace this one. With a full size humbucker, one of the coils will require this addition...It should be possible to raise the other coil to match somehow so it doesn't look to weird. As for the sounds...If I were to only to download one...go with Beckistan...you can hear the sound of this modified neck pickup...it really didn't change it's sound from what it was before...if anything there's maybe a little more body...and it's now got a blade instead of individual poles... These were just quick demo's...everytime I play it I learn a little more...a pinched harmonic morphs back into it's fundumental, for instance, while a natural harmonic seems to keep it's harmonic in fundamental sustain mode... You really have to get on top of your damping technique too...a sustained note continuously builds in volume but a little gentle palm pressure on the string controls the dynamics...so lots of new techniques to explore! Thanks for your interest and positive comments... psw Quote Link to comment
Galaga_Mike Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Hey PSW, Sounds Great! I'm jealous of those harmonics. I should post some clips of my setup, because just from the quick listen that I gave, it sounds like my driver (the ferrite/rare earth one) is a little better at grabbing the root note and holding it without harmonics. But like I said in the other thread, I get NONE of those cool harmonics that you're getting on the upper strings. Those clips were great to demonstrate how versatile this thing can be. Really great stuff! Thanks for all your efforts, keep it up! Mike Quote Link to comment
psw Posted July 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Someone reported having trouble downloading a couple of the clips...if you click on the All Tracks link you should be fine from there...let me know if it still doesn't work... Galaga Mike...No I haven't got any trouble holding the fundumental notes...just keeping my finger down...no problems with those high strings either... Really the only problems are the "pop", the complicated switching to interface with the guitar, and maybe the life of the battery... Performance wise...my playing aside...and the above mentioned problems...the thing really works "perfectly"...well, really, really well... Intergrating the pickup with the driver is I think a real advancement...it addresses a lot of the practicalities of installing the device...utilizes resources that already exist in the guitar (eg the pickup's magnet, the neck pickup routing, etc)...and...It also looks pretty cool... But...I'm not going to solve these things working on my own (well not quickly!) and the thing could be even better...so I'd encourage people to have a go as it is so close...and it's so much fun to play.... keep the feedback coming... psw / pete Quote Link to comment
psw Posted July 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 almost 400 visits in a couple of days...wow... Here's a link to the Sustainer Thread inviting people to come over for a listen...some more coments and useful stuff posted there...thanks guy's... DIY SUSTAINER THREAD at Aron's stombox forum psw Quote Link to comment
psw Posted July 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Excited...You Bet.... Ok...it's only 10 mins old but I couldn't wait to show it to you all... Here it is...the new...portable, psw guitar sustainer test kit.... Modeled here on my black beauty, lounging on the couch...there's a black box plugged into the guitar (with a battery clipped to it's side, and red LED)...an amp lead so you can hear the thing, from the box...a driver attached to the neck pickup of the guitar (blade pole), lowered to accomodate it, and simply by the power of the pickup's magnet... So, already it's shown that with a guitar like this (PAF style humbuckers) the sustain is insane.... This setup duplicates what's in the low powered strat, same driver (sans pickup) same circuit but on this guitar...only the tiniest amount of power is required...on a control from 1-10...about 0.5...!!!! Lp=big fat sustain...LP with sustainer=big fat sustain, forever...!!! Who knows how long a battery'd last with this amount of power going to it.... Anyway...couldn't wait to let it be known...even the "pop" is less, and only on turn on!!! I didn't even need to disconnect the neck pickup, just used the selector to turn it off...go figure...!!!! ← OK...so no sounds on this yet...but hey...I'm excited psw Quote Link to comment
haggardguy Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Wow,awesome stuff psw, I'm glad you've finally gotten this in a working version and that it sounds good too. Kepp it up Quote Link to comment
psw Posted July 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 OK Sustainerettes…a couple more sustainer sounds… I'm having a little trouble recording on computer so there's still no multi-tracking, editing, etc. These sounds are being hosted by Jim Rayden and the guy's at Taavi Audio...a big thanks for helping me get this stuff on the 'net so you can hear them… These sounds are of the "sustain box" device that I created to test the thing on different guitars. It is very much a test device and doesn't work as well as a fully installed sustainer…but it is a valuable development tool and worthwhile DIY if you want to experiment before making some kind of commitment to a particular guitar. So here's the sounds…for a direct link go here… All Tracks --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bit Riffy Les Paul guitar with "sustain box". Driver is placed (and taped) over the neck side pole of the guitar and the signal comes direct from the output jack… First sound is a held fundumental note (a, bstring, 22nd fret) showing that, even this close to the driver a note will sustain… The riff is a bit classic rock with a twist…the sustainer allows me to slide the single note answering phrase about… The final chord is an open A and on the LP the middle strings tend to predominate…by dampening the open A string (which is "feeding back" into a harmonic) the a note (g string, 2nd fret) is drawn out…while allowing the bass note to re-establish I move up to the 22nd fret again to bring back the opening note…switching to harmonic mode at the end it sounds out an octave above (the imaginary 44th fret)… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LP riff A santana-ish riff I made up…here you can here how a little spice can be added to the riff with the addition of harmonics to the longer held notes…. Like the above clip…The LP is naturally sustain-y and a guitar like an LP will naturally sustain like this…really it adds the harmonic sound to spice things up, until you go for really, really long "infinite" sounds and some of those "no pick" like effects that the device makes possible. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shanka Noodles Indian anyone…Here is the LP in dropped d to create a background drone for a little introspective noodling… The effect is the Sitar setting on the AX1G. This effect is tuned to the key (in this case D) and the effect responds to the note D and others (A and F's) to a lesser degree relating to the key. It's quite effective, so those sitar-y sympathetic effects appear when key notes are played… Starting in Harmonic Mode you can clearly hear the notes are very high…that's the sustainer, not the "effect". Throughout you can hear notes that are artificially long and many have no attack but are brought out by sliding and fretting the notes. The harmonic mode switch is used a few times and it's effect and when it's switched can be heard if you listen carefully…. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, there's a little taster of what I've been up to in testing the "sustain box" out on the LP. As to its performance…I'm in too minds…there's still some stuff to do on it. While I have been able to show that the device will work on a HB…the effect on the Humbucker's tone is unknown. This would require a specially made driver that spanned both coils…one side being a dummy to raise the other coils to the same level. I also feel that a naturally sustain-y guitar reaps less rewards than with a more twangy, sharp attack Fender-y type of instrument where the implementation of the sustainer provides more range from short to infinite sustain… Anyway…more developments are happening my end, but until more people get the thing up and running such applications will be up in the air…there is only so much I'm inclined to do…personally, while interested and will try to help, I'm not really inclined to do experimental work on EMG's for which I don't have any personal use for, for instance. What I am interested in is improving and simplifying the circuitry and that's a bit of my focus at the moment… So…if I sort out my computer woes…I'll post sounds as they can be made… BTW…the sustainer project now spans a few forums so comments can also be found at The unfretted forum (where I recently reported on the use of the device on bass) unfretted forum - DIY Sustainer thread DIY stompbox forum (where I'm looking at circuitry and other questions) DIY stompboxes DIY Sustainer Thread Thanks again to Jim Rayden and the site traaviaudio.com for helping with the hosting of these sound clips Taavi Audio Cheers psw ← As before...clicking the little pink arrow will take you to the Sustainer Thread...p Quote Link to comment
psw Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 A Member Dizzy_One over at diystompboxes sustainer thread posted something a while ago (jul 21) that may be of interest to sustainer watchers. Basically he has made a Sustainiac copy but with the driver in the mid position and is electronically more complex than my approach but with great and similar results. I've reposted one of his replies to me from there as there's a really nice full production sound clip that's really worth a listen. I can't do the kind of production number he's done and just improvised some single track stuff into the computer, Dizzy's may be a little more accessable and inspiring. The driver is a much like Sustainiac bilateral driver. Signal from pickups goes to buffer with a very high impedance, then to a complicated phase and amplitude correction scheme, to a AGC circuit and finally to the power amp (lm386, heh). No a fundamental/harnonic mode because of placement of driver. Just a some mixed mode - harmonics on most bass strings and fund. on high strings. Varying picking style and switching to different pickup combintation, i got a different harmnonics. Sound sample (a theme from some great comp game of the past): Diablo Theme - Dizzy's Sustainer Demo (1.44 Mb). Almost all notes of the lead were picked with left hand only. If you want to know more there was some discussion about it and the link at the top of the page should take you there. There was a Pic too but it's gone now but it looked very similar to the sustainiac single coil pickup on a strat, completely replacing the mid pickup. It didn't work as a pickup as mine does but could be used with either or both pickups. enjoy and thanks to dizzy and the guys over at diystomp... psw A lot of these links no longer work...the track mentioned in this post is available at my soundclik page.. 4tune8...enjoy Quote Link to comment
psw Posted December 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2005 Here's another Sustainer Sound Byte for the new year...lots of harmonics, effects and stuff...enjoy...psw Siren Sea OK...here's an edit in of a description of what's going on in this track.... I slapped it together with Audacity. Mainly consists of a backing of Acoustic guitar (3 tracks) with layers of Sustainer Guitar (4 tracks). Shows off the harmonic mode a lot and the use of effects with the sustainer. Tracks are… 1…picked echo acoustic 2…strummed acoustic 3...pseudo bass acoustic 4…tremolo pad (sustainer) 5…harmonic pad (sustainer) 6…pseudo organ effect (sustainer) 7…harmonic lead (sustainer) A bit rough but it gives a better idea of the range of the thing and it’s more unique effects. The weird organ sounding thing is a cheap harmonizer set at an octave above with normal sustain. This gives a low quality synthetic sampled sound. All the other high notes are simply the harmonic mode often bent with the tremolo arm. You can see that very high notes are available (I had another take with even higher notes) but I confess that I used a compressed sound on that last track with a wha all the way down otherwise you could hardly hear them… Yeah it is a bit rough but what it does show is that even this prototype strat sustainer can produce these high harmonics on the high strings. The use of effects on long sustained notes leaves room for experiment and shows it to be a versitile recording tool. Quote Link to comment
psw Posted January 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2006 I found a free site called soundclick that hosts MP3's a little like Photobucket does for pics. So, heres a new demo track up there..let me know how it works...the site could be useful to others a PG who want to add sound to their posts... Oh...and here's a link to a page that I'll be uploading some more sustainer sounds... Soundclick sustainer sound page let me know how it works. The Track Static Field is all sustainer tracks. The basis is a loop with some semi random theramin type sounds over it...a little differet, zen out.. Quote Link to comment
psw Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I just added a new little demo tune at soundclick The Yearning Actually worth a listen, I'm starting to get the hang of this thing now. Basically, I changed the battery recently and it's so much better. I have been showing off some of the more extreme harmonic functions but it is actually more responsive in Fundumental mode. One of the tricks is to play much lighter than usual. On this track I'm starting to get the hang of imitating woodwind sounds and getting the chord sounds to sustain a little more. The breathy sound is partly cause with a light touch there is a little bit of swell in the notes, more voice like and the strings slightly hit the frets giving it a kind of breathy quality. Well worth a listen and only a little clip. Enjoy...pete BTW...that is just one guitar on there, no editing straight into the computer with a little echo from my cheapo Korg AX1G Quote Link to comment
spazzyone Posted August 31, 2006 Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 this is a worse video than the last one i posted yet its longer so it shows more i ran the input level way to high and left the mike on the camcorder turned on "intended" all the guitars were run direct from a digitech rp6 and no effects added the the driver chain now here are the problems. mad clipping on guitars.you can barely hear me talk yet im three feet from the mike.yet you can here a very loud vehicle drive past my house. go figure now what you cant here me say the first part im just saying im using a clean setting "yet its distorted from the clipping" next im just kicking in "real"distortion if you pay attention when i start to play a chord you will notice that i start to detune one of the strings i did this to show you can get chords to sustain very well and you can also see on one part im having trouble getting the high E to sound wich is hard for at least two reasons one being string gauge the other is any open string try's to over power it. i know my playing sucked but i was not realy trying anything im just trying to show what this system. can do any how here it is all comments welcome Quote Link to comment
psw Posted August 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2006 Shame about the quality of the Video, but it does demonstrate the experiment works. The sustainer thread welcomes any experiments or ideas along these lines (as long as they are safe ) and "spazzy" has taken another approach. Interestingly similar to some of my very early experiments over a decade ago when my guitar almost caught on fire! Anyway...what is interesting is that this is a conventional 14k ohm guitar pickup and is being driven by outboard amplification. It raises some interesting possibilities to explore in terms of other esperiments on the thread...such as the use of dual core drivers and offboard amplification. I personally think that a dedicated driver with far less amplification is the go, but as an experiment it raises questions and directions for further exploration. Thanks a lot Mr S, much appreciated contribution... pete PS...my sustainer-strat is still going strong and is being played regularly. There have been a few sustainer projects successfully completed and the main thread is now 103 pages long and has well over 50,000 visits...quite astonishing. Perhaps like infinite sustain, it will never end... Quote Link to comment
psw Posted October 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2006 OK...here are a few more clips from the sustainer thread. This again is of my guitar and was made to try and demonstate a kind of fizz that occurs, especially in harmonic mode on ultra clean settings. It may be of interest to those wanting to know what the sustainer thread is on about, and to keep the sounds in one place...here ok...thanks again for Tim hosting some sound clips I did 3 quick mp3's of my sustainer...very rough, but you get the idea... noodling1 this is a ultra clean sound. I found if I turned the sensitivity control down the fizz largley went. I start with the bridge pickup with the sustainer off so you can here the natural sound...then the sustainer turned down...then turned up...you can hear the fizz in there particularly in the harmonic mode... Are we talking about the same sounds guys? noodling2 this is a slightly overdriven (echoy sound) that I tend to favour...still be regarded as fairly clean by some. This brings out the harmonics and gives the sound a little more body and effectively hides the fizz. Note that this guitar is badly in need of some work. The action has got fairly low and there is a bit of fret buzz...once the sustainer kicks in, a lot of those sounds are the strings crashing into the frets... europish Ok...so a bit of santana style, more distortion...shows with this kind of thing how it mimics traditional feedback sustain and brings out controlled harmonics. Unfortunately, I think the battery was kind of dying a bit cause later, the guitar was a lot more responsive...grrr Anyway...got kids to look after...but perhaps we can see if your experiments and EMI problems are similar to the fizz I get...or wether such sound quality as these clips show are acceptable, or could be improved. Bear in mind this is a very poor quality POS $50 guitar... got to run...thanks TIm pete An addition to the above notes... on the first track... time 0-10 bridge pickup, no sustainer 12-28 similar but with sustainer on in normal sustain mode 30-52 sustainer switches to harmonic mode 53-1:50 chords with sustainer in harmonic mode... the above were with the sensitivity on 7 to minimise the fizz effect... 1:50-2:05 the sensitivity control was turned up to 10! 2:05-3:11 the harmonic mode was switched on...the "fizz" distortion is easily apparent! on the second clip 45-56 I manipulate the harmonic control while the notes are sustaining...an interesting effect! Note that with this sound (as used on beckistan) the overdrive masks the fizz pretty much, though some would regard it as a fairly "clean" sound. (sensitivity on full throughout) third clip is short with a distorted sound and a wha at full tilt to bring out the trebles (was not manipulated and is common for that santana sound) 0:45-56 shows the perils of poor damping with this device...sounds just like the feedback of a very loud amp!! the sustainer battery seemed a bit weak or something. The fizz is effectively hidden All these clips were recorded directly and silently to the computer so all feedback is generated by the sustainer with no acoustic influences from an amp. Anyway....hope that is of a little interest... pete oh...did I mention the thread is up to 121 pages and has recieved 63,000 visits....amazing...now that's sustain!!! Quote Link to comment
spazzyone Posted October 11, 2006 Report Share Posted October 11, 2006 (edited) U2's with or without you. clean with a tad of delay and recorded direct its hard as hell to get good clean levels. not sure why though not perfect by anymeans my guitar is panned hard right so fade between both im having alot of trouble recording tracks (cakewalks guitar trax) and converting them. ill post more soon here is a link http://savefile.com/projects/1027276 not sure why that was cut sure ill repost it and i setup a soundclick account so the demos are streaming audio instead of downloading. these 4 demos are direct from a digitech RP6 into computer. no effects or distortion in driver chain (better signal clean anyway) comments are welcome. description's are on the sounclip page http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=612203 Edited October 11, 2006 by spazzyone Quote Link to comment
col Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Just posted this to the ideas thread so if you want details and excuses go there . Anyhow, in order to increase my credibilty quotient a notch or two, I made a little demo of my sustainer. Go here and click on 'music' to check it out cheers Col Quote Link to comment
psw Posted November 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Here is a Live clip from CurtisA of his sustainer guitar.... Looking forward to hearing that Here you go then : Linky Please 'scuse the quality - it's just a pair of mikes in the room. Just after the fade-in, you can hear me switch the sustainer in on fundamental mode, and then at about the 15sec mark I switch to harmonic mode for the rest of the recording. Excellent... Now that is a great example of how this device is not just about "infinite sustain"...those harmonic sounds are something that would be virtually impossible to achieve without the "sustainer" ...got to watch the ears on that high harmonic around 32secs ... Good to hear it in a band context too. It is nice that you haven't allowed the sustain ability to overwhelm your style showing that even with the device on you don't have to loose speed, it just provides more options in what you can do... I am sure you could see how it might be nice to add sustain or harmonics with a simple momentary switch so as to add these effects to a note or a chord...that might take a while...or to allow for pickup selection...but as it is, it allows for a broad range of extra expressive tones and techniques... Nice playing too, a mix of blues, fusion and rock without being too heavy on the shred...I'll be looking forward to hearing what you do with it once you have been playing with it a while...top notch... pete This sustainer is very similar to mine in that it is a single coil driver built on top of a pickup...even though both curtis and col (above) are seeking to refine response...you can hear that even in it's basic form it is still a very expressive device even in this simle form...check it out... pete Quote Link to comment
col Posted November 14, 2006 Report Share Posted November 14, 2006 I added another sustainer demo to my soundclick page - this time distorted rock guitar in harmonic mode col Quote Link to comment
col Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Yet another new demo from me - this time no distortion ! sustainer clean demo starts with no sustainer, then normal, then mixed mode. cheers Col Quote Link to comment
psw Posted November 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 Well...the sustainer thread is up to 147 pages and still attracting a lot of visits... Col has made some great strides with his inovative forward feed compressor technology in the circuitry and has even got it installed with a dual coil "rail" style driver...innovative stuff and has certainly taken my original concepts (thin coil drivers, etc) to another level... Here though is something for everyone, a new Variax with Sustainer guitar by Jeff Miller...with Video... OK...stop press!!! I happened across this amazing Video from an amazing guitar builder that has featured elsewhere in this forum... He is known for his startling creations in a PRS mode in which he guts Variax guitar's for their electronics to bring that technology into a high quality instrument... Not only a geat builder, he is an impressive player (in a country vein) and this time he has something of interest for us here... Here is a video (8.8MB) to watch or download...http://www.guitaristjeffmiller.com/videos/..._variax_dc2.wmv This features a PRS Santana copy with duncan pickups, Fernandes Sustainer and Variax built into a floyd rose with piezo saddles.... A complete pictorial (lot's of pictures so beware if on dial up ) can be found here...http://www.guitaristjeffmiller.com/guitars13.htm There are lot's to note about the performance of the sustainer...the little bit of switch noise, the clean performance and how close we have come to getting a very similar performance with our DIY device... The Variax sounds are pretty good too...I do think that this device has legs, even if you have to cut out half of your guitar to get it in there ...and we thought we had installation problems... pete Enjoy... p Quote Link to comment
col Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Another dodgy demo to add to my collection at: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=602062 Col Quote Link to comment
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